enV, Moto Q, or BlackBerry 7250

Which one should I get from Verizon out of the three. I'm having a very hard time choosing. My first choice was the Moto Q, but then the enV because of the 2.0 MP camera. I will be using it for email, aim, and a study tool for notes and stuff.

If you own the phone please give me your own short review of the phone.

I would choose the Blackberry or the Q over the EnV based on the fact that the Blackberry and the Q both seem more 'professional'. The EnV seems like a phone for a teenager to me (which you may actually be).

The enV is mainly for texting. It's a fun little phone and I love the keyboard on it, but that seems to be the only good thing about it. It has a microSD slot and you can use it to store your tunes and pics, obviously.

I don't know anything about the Q.

A friend of mine has a 7250. The features are very cool. You can definitely do more than the enV, at least. However, I find its size to be very bulky and the case slippery.

It all depends on what you what to do with it. I'll give a few descriptions for each one.

enV:
This phone is mainly for texting uses, as mentioned above, although it has one upside to it: It does not require the $45/month unlimited data plan to access the web. You can use Verizon's Mobile Web 2.0 service ($5/month) that uses airtime, their VCAST service ($15/month) which is WAP/GIN/VCAST airtime free, or you can use an alternative service like the free ZaksEnterprises or the $12 per year Hopke.net.

The keyboard fits the space nicely, although the space keys are on the outer edges of the keyboard, not in the middle like a traditional keyboard. The camera, from what I've seen, is decent. It's better than most cameras, but certainly not the highest quality out there.

The music player plays VCAST purchased songs, WMA and MP3 songs. The phone uses microSD cards or TransFlash cards and can accept capacities up to 2GB. While the enV isn't going to replace the iPod anytime soon, it's kind of convenient to have a few songs in your pocket and only carrying one device. The enV has the A2DP Bluetooth Profile; in English, this phone allows you to use Bluetooth Headphones like the Motorola DJs or others. While these headphones are a little on the expensive side ($100 and up) they are convenient that you don't have to deal with tangling wires. Another plus is that the headphones usually have a microphone so you can use it as a bluetooth headset.

Onto the email/AIM/notes part.

Verizon has locked this baby down to the floor. If you want to use email on here, you must use their Wireless Sync ($19.99/month) or one of the few, and really horrible, Get it Now programs. The only way to do email on here for free is to use an alternative web service and go to Yahoo! Mobile, Windows Live Mobile, etc. But that will use your airtime minutes so it's not the most convenient.

AIM is also crippled. Mobile IM does not use data. It uses text messages. On average, signing in and getting the contact list uses about 2 text messages. Every message is counted as a text. This can add up really quickly. Since there is no true unlimited plan and AIM is not "IN" texting, you only get from 100 to 2500 or even 3500 texts on AIM, ranging from $3 to $30. Once again, you can use the free web service and go to eBuddy Messenger, but again, it uses airtime.

Notes. Non-existent. There is no notepad or anything equivalent. There's not even a web alternative that I know of.
Motorola Q:
There was a lot of hate towards this little guy due to horrible battery life. That is now gone. Verizon has released a new firmware update to MOK2. This has addressed many issues, but the main one is the battery life. People have experienced less than one day of battery life before the update, but with the update, they have gone for a few days on a single charge with the occasional call and data session.

The Motorola Q, from what I've read, has a pretty decent keyboard, although a few glitches like it not responding to key-presses. The screen is very crisp and clear, which is great. I have not heard of the camera so I can't help you there.

It uses Windows Media Player so you can play WMAs, MP3s, and WMVs. With TCPMP, you can view AVI's, MPEG's (with codecs). It also has the A2DP profile on Bluetooth 2.0, so you can use wireless headphones. Not much else to mention there.

Onto Email/AIM/Notes.

The Q uses Outlook Mobile to send and receive email. It is basically the same as the desktop Outlook. It can update every 15 minutes, or you can also sign up for the Wireless Sync to have BlackBerry-esque email in that the email will be sent to your phone once Verizon's servers has received it from your POP/IMAP account. You can also view webmail through Pocket IE. If you have a Hotmail account, you can use Pocket MSN to access it.

For AIM usage, you can download AIM-alternative apps that use data instead of text messages. This is the way to go if you want to get AIM. Not much else on that.

For notes, I believe the Q does not include Word Mobile. You can purchase Documents to Go (either now, or soon) for about $50. It allows you to view, edit, and create Word and Excel documents, and also allows you you to view PowerPoint documents, and I believe edit PowerPoint docs.

BlackBerry 7250:
The BlackBerry is the oldest of all these devices. Honestly, I would recommend that if you decide to get the BlackBerry, you should get the 8703e. It has an Intel processor for faster data processing, among other things. It also has a new, brighter screen. I will be talking about the BlackBerry in general.

The BlackBerry has a QWERTY keyboard, the keyboard that made the BlackBerry famous. The keys on the 8703e are squared off unlike the 7250, which are round.

Both BlackBerries have Bluetooth, although neither of them have music playing capabilities. They also don't have a camera. The solution to this, the upcoming Verizon-version of the BlackBerry Pearl. One downside to this is the fact that it will have the SureType keyboard that has two letters assigned to one key.

For email, the BlackBerry has the world-renowned "push" style email. In other words, it is sent straight to your BlackBerry within seconds from when it is sent to you. It can access your POP email accounts. You can also access Webmail, like your Hotmail, through Windows Live Mobile.

For AIM, there are applications that use data to send and receive messages. Not much else to say that.

For notes, there are document applications that you can download and purchase to create, view, and edit documents, although I'm not sure what format it's in.

That's it for the phones. I'm just once again going to talk about the plans.

For the enV, to access the internet, you need the $5 Mobile Web, $15 VCAST, or a free alternative. For email, you can use the Mobile Web service, or the $19.99/month Wireless Sync. For texting, you need at least the $10 text plan for unlimited "IN." Note that Mobile IM for AIM is not "IN", so it charges you per text.

For the Q and BlackBerry, to have unlimited data, you need to pay $45/month. If you choose pay-as-you-go, you must be sure to not use ANY data services like Pocket IE, Pocket MSN, Outlook Mobile, or picture messaging. Texting is still the same as the enV, although you could use Outlook Mobile to send text messages to people. There are guides online that help you.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.